WBOB

[John FL]

I was just wondering what the deal is with WBOB. Every once in a while I catch a commercial for them when I watch Fox News. They don't seem to have a complete schedule, at least according to their website. They do have Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly so it would seem they are trying to make something of themselves.

Apparently their signal is so-so on a practically dead radio band, and with strong competition in WOKV and WBOB scraping the bottom of the ratings, it would seem no matter what the lineup few will tune in if nothing changes. No way to do business.

Brilliant move that WOKV simulcasts on FM as this gives them tons of opportunities to attract new listeners. Sports 1010XL now simulcasts on FM too and while it's early to determine the results, it would seem they have a better opportunity to attract advertising friendly demos than if they just remained on AM.

Could WBOB wind up simulcasting on FM too? I don't know anything about Chesapeake/Portsmouth Broadcasting and if they have the financial clout to pull it off. Something will happen to 92.7. Maybe this is an option for them to work out something like Seven Bridges did with Tama with eventual new owners and to simulcast on that signal. Maybe they could buy the station outright, maybe not. Anyway, just a thought but I'm curious to see what y'all think of that possible scenario. Thanks.

 

[pocket-radio]

Play oldies and super serve smaller advertisers. Playing more syndicated news talk programs is not what Jacksonville needs. Their signal is pitifully weak and WOKV owns the syndicated talk/news franchise in Jacksonville.

 

[smedge2006]

Play oldies and super serve smaller advertisers. Playing more syndicated news talk programs is not what Jacksonville needs. Their signal is pitifully weak and WOKV owns the syndicated talk/news franchise in Jacksonville.

Not even the oldies audience will go to AM for music. They tried to revive the mighty WWKB in Buffalo and failed. What reason is there to believe a non-heritage AM at 1320 could make a go with this?

WOKV owns the syndicated talk/news franchise in Jacksonville.

I think there's room for a second conservative news-talker in most markets. Tampa has WWBA, West Palm has WFTL.

The reason why WBOB only lists half a schedule is because the other half of the station's programming is
what used to be on WZNZ before it was bought by Queen of Peace Broadcasting. I think WBOB could be viable as a conservative talker OR as a liberal talker (Andy Johnson is a little weird for my tastes but he has a track record with advertisers). But not both. Once again the longtime ineptitude of smaller AM operators in the Jacksonville market produces another shoot-one's-self-in-the-foot situation.

 

[TommyR]

Why am I having a flashback to my days at Talk Radio 970? ;D

Soooo many distant #2's have come and gone nipping at the heels of WOKV. That said, heck yeah, a real player in Jax would have to be on FM these days. With OKV and XL on FM, why even flip to the AM band except if you're a longtime fan of the religious broadcasters?

I'd love to have another good voice in local talk radio, even though it's not my format of choice. I wish WBOB well, but it needs more exposure, awareness, and arguably most importantly, a better dial position.

Sad, because when Andy Johnson took over 1460 a while back, it had just upgraded from 5 to 15kW. Oh well.

 

[smedge2006]

Doesn't WBOB have a CP to go 50 kW days?

 

[TommyR]

Looking now on a radio-locator site...well, how about that!

 

[sussusstudio]

I've a few friends at WBOB and know a bit about Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting. When they purchased the cluster from Salem there were 4 stations, WZAZ, WZNZ, WJGR (now WBOB) and WBGB (fm). Since taking over, they've sold all off except WBOB. I find it very hard to believe that WBOB is a money maker, so it seems probable that they'd sell off their final station in the market.

As for how they handle the broadcasting end of things, well... The company has no interest in competing. The way their line-ups have changed the past year or two clearly demonstrates this. The folks I know that used to be in sales for them were driven nuts. If they could show a little patience (doing an Axel Rose dance right now) perhaps this topic wouldn't be up here.

Concerning their transmitter upgrades and proposed upgrade? Last time they did that they sold a station. That seems like the only possible outcome whenever that happens.

It really is a shame to me. The potential of any station is really incredible and it just seems like this one has been overhauled to death. In my honest opinion, the only way WBOB could really improve is through new ownership... presently they just are not interested in making anything out of the station besides a buck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Owners deserve to make money, and do what they want to with their toys. Its just surprising that a company that owns several stations doesn't see that a station can make more money for you in the long run if operated properly than just installing a new stick and selling it.

 

[smedge2006]

This may provide some context:

From a 2006 Salem press release:

"Chesapeake-Portsmouth is a company controlled by Nancy Epperson, wife of Salem's Chairman of the Board Stuart W. Epperson and sister of CEO Edward G. Atsinger III."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_Sept_18/ai_n26988735


You may recall that a year or two ago investors were complaining about underperforming stations in the Salem family. My supposition is that C-P is a vehicle to get those weak stations off the books of the publicly traded company while not taking the hit from poor sale prices. It was never intended to be an operating company, just a Wall Street juggle.

They may be renting half the day out to Andy Johnson, but my suspicion is they'll sell it to another church group to keep it out the hands of those goldarn lib'ruls.

 

[gchasse]

I was listening to them on Saturday, and Stan the Liberal Union Man was saying that they are going to be broadcasting on 105.7fm soon and also in Southern GA on another FM frequency (sorry, I don't remember that one).

As for their programming, I like to listen to Laura Ingraham in the mornings, and I flip between her and Neal Boortz, so I think they have some listeners. Their liberal programming, as far as I have heard, which is on later in the day, is all local and leaves much to be desired, but they want both ends of the spectrum, I guess. Good luck to them.

 

[pocket-radio]

With a power upgrade to 50k and the right ownership that station could be a real powerhouse in Jacksonvillle.

 

[TommyR]

I was listening to them on Saturday, and Stan the Liberal Union Man was saying that they are going to be broadcasting on 105.7fm soon and also in Southern GA on another FM frequency (sorry, I don't remember that one).

Assuming this means Tama will be leasing the two singals currently operating as Fiesta, that would be 105.7 (WHJX Baldwin) + 92.5 (WFJO Folkston, transmitter in Hilliard).

Great move, if that's the case.

HJX's signal from my dial-turning experience is a little weaker than WJXR's east of the river. FJO largely overlaps in Jax, but reaches further north.